Description

Most accounting and financial professionals have been preparing individual income tax returns for years, and while many of the returns are easy, there are always a number of issues that come up in busy season of which experienced practitioners wish they had more knowledge. This course is designed to explore the tough tax issues for experienced practitioners and help them provide better planning strategies and results for their higher income clients.

Instructor: Debbie Phillips, M.S.T., CPA

Target Audience

Experienced Accounting and Financial Professionals who want and need an in-depth knowledge of the most difficult individual-income-tax-return issues

Course Objectives

Understand the basics of §199A

Understand how to properly report advanced transactions in financial instruments and investments

Understand the special problems and new issues for the current return

Identify the causes of alternative minimum tax liability and what can be done to reduce or eliminate it

Subjects

New issues for the current year tax return and §199A

Installment sales — understanding the complicated issues

Form 8582: Passive losses with carryovers — Complicated case with filled-in forms

Puts, calls, straddling, and unusual investments — Understanding the tax laws and reporting them correctly on the tax return

Capital gain and loss issues — The problem with proper reporting of installment sales issues; capital gains and losses; when is a stock worthless; and much more...

At-risk rules: What a return preparer really needs to know

Passive loss issues — You cannot just trust your software. What to watch out for and the questions you need your clients to answer in order to do it right!

Incentive and nonqualified stock options — Reporting; key strategies for planning; dealing with the alternative minimum tax

Alternative minimum tax — Understanding it; planning strategies to avoid it; using the minimum tax credit; explaining it to a client

Form 6251: Detailed calculation example

Prerequisites

Extensive experience in preparation of individual income tax returns